@northcoast said:

So the theaters have been open again for awhile now, but in the previous 18 months, with the push toward animated movies targeted towards kids (easier to make in this post-pandemic world, since the voice actors don't have to be on the set), and the dearth of live-action productions because of same said pandemic, there's been nothing I've wanted to see in-theater. The last film I saw in-theater, prior to now, was "The Hunt" in March of 2020.

I really wanted to see "The Many Saints of Newark" this previous weekend, only to arrive at the theater to find its release date pushed back for the umpteenth time, now slated for October 1. I am STARVED for films made for grown-ups. So, I noticed that "Cry Macho" was available, and hunkered down in the theater to give it a shot.

And I almost walked out, after a chalkboard-screeching 30 minutes, which in my 42 years of seeing films in the theater would have been only the second time I would've done such a thing. But, I determined to stick it out, if for no other reason than to enjoy the experience of being in the cinema again.

Clint Eastwood is now 91 years old, and man, does it show. This, thankfully, is not an action movie, but Mr. Eastwood seemed to really struggle to deliver what relatively few lines he had in a very thin, simplistic script.

The acting from the child actor Eduardo Minett and the much more seasoned Dwight Yoakam was also very bad, but in the cases of those two I lay most of the blame on the script, whereas with Eastwood it was not only that but also, sadly, an evident loss of ability.

Clint Eastwood really should've just retired from acting after his decent performance in 2018's "The Mule", which was released 10 years after his supposed last turn at acting, 2008's excellent "Gran Torino".

I think even die-hard Eastwood fans are going to have a hard time enjoying this film, but who knows . . .

Also, according to TMDB, this movie cost $33 million to make . . . from the sparse settings and the small, mostly unknown cast, it does make one wonder what all the money was spent on.

Embalming fluid?

I wouldn't mind going on a road trip with Clint Eastwood, so that part is allright, but I didn't like the ending with Rafo's decision. The novel's ending was better or Rafo could have walked into the sunset with Macho.

bratface--

Embalming fluid-- ha! . . . I really didn't come on here to just rag on Eastwood, but his performance was just so poor; nevertheless, I couldn't help but chuckle at your comment:)

At least Eastwood had the common sense not to have his character sleep with Leta (Fernanda Urrejola), unlike that very uncomfortable scene in "The Mule" where he beds the sooooo much younger woman provided to him by the cartel boss.

Wonder2wonder--

This movie actually reminded me of the Canadian TV series "Heartland", so I can see why you might've liked this movie more than me (I see you've commented several times on that show here on TMDB) . . . but, to me, that program just seems overly sappy (from what little I've seen of it over the years, catching it a little on U.S. re-broadcast here and there, and it's fine if you like that show), but the meager storyline behind "Cry Macho" just seems to me overly sentimental and beneath Eastwood's usual performances.

Good points, mechajutaro.

And Firefox-- an underappreciated Eastwood film. Great special effects for the time, too, I thought, with the two Firefox aircraft.

Trivia for the day-- Kai Wulff, the opposing Firefox pilot, also played a Soviet KGB officer in the TV movie World War III (one of Rock Hudson's last acting appearances, as the U.S. President), which was also released the same year as Firefox. A good working year for Wulff, in a year-- 1982 --that saw a ton of great movies released.

@northcoast said:

So the theaters have been open again for awhile now, but in the previous 18 months, with the push toward animated movies targeted towards kids (easier to make in this post-pandemic world, since the voice actors don't have to be on the set), and the dearth of live-action productions because of same said pandemic, there's been nothing I've wanted to see in-theater. The last film I saw in-theater, prior to now, was "The Hunt" in March of 2020.

I really wanted to see "The Many Saints of Newark" this previous weekend, only to arrive at the theater to find its release date pushed back for the umpteenth time, now slated for October 1. I am STARVED for films made for grown-ups. So, I noticed that "Cry Macho" was available, and hunkered down in the theater to give it a shot.

And I almost walked out, after a chalkboard-screeching 30 minutes, which in my 42 years of seeing films in the theater would have been only the second time I would've done such a thing. But, I determined to stick it out, if for no other reason than to enjoy the experience of being in the cinema again.

Clint Eastwood is now 91 years old, and man, does it show. This, thankfully, is not an action movie, but Mr. Eastwood seemed to really struggle to deliver what relatively few lines he had in a very thin, simplistic script.

The acting from the child actor Eduardo Minett and the much more seasoned Dwight Yoakam was also very bad, but in the cases of those two I lay most of the blame on the script, whereas with Eastwood it was not only that but also, sadly, an evident loss of ability.

Clint Eastwood really should've just retired from acting after his decent performance in 2018's "The Mule", which was released 10 years after his supposed last turn at acting, 2008's excellent "Gran Torino".

I think even die-hard Eastwood fans are going to have a hard time enjoying this film, but who knows . . .

Also, according to TMDB, this movie cost $33 million to make . . . from the sparse settings and the small, mostly unknown cast, it does make one wonder what all the money was spent on.

It was really a bad movie

I wasted my 1500 Redbox points on this pile of garbage. It was just a total borefest... it was difficult to stick to it... NOTHING INTERESTING HAPPENS. If you can't sleep, then put this pile of crap on. Had to keep backing up to see what extremely uninteresting scene just caused me to faze out... again, and again.